Feb. 24, 2010

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Four Atlantic Coast Conference All-ACC first team representatives, including 2009 Defensive Player of the Year Ike Opara and 2009 Freshman of the Year Andrew Wenger, secured spots on the 2009 All-ACC Academic Men's Soccer Team as announced today by Commissioner John Swofford.

Defending Men's Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year Zack Schilawski, a senior biology major from Wake Forest, not only headlines this year's All-ACC Academic team, but defends his title as two-time Men's Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Schilawski, who led the ACC in goals (13) and points (35), was one of four All-Conference first-teamers to make the fifth annual class.

Schilawski finished his career with a school-record 99 games played, and is ranked third in school history in goals (40) and points (100). The forward from Cary, N.C., was a finalist for the 2009 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, and earned first-team Scholar All-American nods by NSCAA/adidas and ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American first-team recognition. Schilawski led his Demon Deacons to a 17-4-3 record and a berth in the NCAA Tournament as the No. 3 seed.

Joining Schilawski as 2009 All-ACC first-team representatives on this year's All-ACC Academic squad are Duke's Wenger, Maryland junior forward Jason Herrick, and Wake Forest's Opara.

ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors were established in September 2007 to be awarded annually to the top junior or senior student-athlete in their respective sports. Candidates must have maintained a 3.0 grade point average for their career as well as a 3.0 for each of the last two semesters. Maryland's Stephen King was named as the first ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for men's soccer.

To be eligible for consideration for the All-ACC Academic team, a student-athlete must have earned a 3.0 grade point average for the previous semester and maintained a 3.0 cumulative average during his academic career.

Duke matched its men's soccer All-ACC Academic team record-high eight selections from 2006, leading all schools on this year's academic team. Clemson and Virginia Tech tabbed five selections each on the 2009 squad, while Maryland added four representatives and Wake Forest and NC State had three apiece.

Also highlighting the talent on this year's all-league academic team was All-Freshman honorees Wenger and Maryland defender Taylor Kemp and All-Tournament members Schilawski, Hunter Jumper (Virginia), Chris Widman (NC State), and Nathan Thornton (Clemson).

2009 All-ACC Academic Men's Soccer Team
Name	Class	School	Major
Greg Eckhardt	Sr.	Clemson	Management
Michael Mattson	Gr.	Clemson	Professional Program of Accounting (PPA)
David Newton	Gr.	Clemson	Civil Engineering
Austin Savage	Fr.	Clemson	Undeclared
Nathan Thornton	Sr.	Clemson	Civil Engineering
James Belshaw	Fr.	Duke	Undeclared
Josh Bienenfeld	Sr.	Duke	Psychology
Ryan Finley	Fr.	Duke	Undeclared
Ryan McDaniel	Sr.	Duke	Psychology
Nick Sih	Jr.	Duke	International Comparative Studies
Matt Thomas	Sr.	Duke	Sociology
Chris Tweed-Kent	So.	Duke	Mechanical Engineering
Andrew Wenger	Fr.	Duke	Undeclared
Jason Herrick	Jr.	Maryland	Accounting
Taylor Kemp	Fr.	Maryland	Kinesiological Science
Kevin Tangney	Sr.	Maryland	General Business
Casey Townsend	So.	Maryland	Undeclared
Kirk Urso	So.	North Carolina	Economics
Kris Byrd	So.	NC State	Business
Chris Widman	Gr.	NC State	Economics
Chris Zuerner	Jr.	NC State	Business
Hunter Jumper	So.	Virginia	Psychology
Emmanuel Akogyeram	So.	Virginia Tech	University Studies
Alexander Baden	Sr.	Virginia Tech	Accounting and Information Systems
Craig Burnell	Jr.	Virginia Tech	Environmental Science
Charlie Campbell	Jr.	Virginia Tech	Finance
James Gilson	Sr.	Virginia Tech	Finance
Justin Lichtfuss	Sr.	Wake Forest	Business
Ike Opara	Jr.	Wake Forest	Communication
Zack Schilawski	Sr.	Wake Forest	Biology